V. I. Lenin

The Extraordinary All-Russia Congress Of SovietsOf  Peasants' Deputies[See glossary entry]

November 10-25 (November 23-December 8), 1917

Written:12-14 November, 1917First Published:Various; listed under
      each section.Source:Lenin’sCollected
      Works, Progress Publishers, Moscow, Volume 26, 1972,
      pp. 321-332Translated:Yuri Sdobnikov and George
      Hanna, Edited by George HannaTranscription/HTML Markup:Charles
      Farrell and David WaltersOnline Version:Lenin Internet ArchiveNovember,
    2000

Statement to the Bolshevik Groupat the Extraordinary All-Russia Congressof Soviets of Peasants' Deputies[1]

We demand most emphatically that the Bolsheviks insist, in the
      form of an ultimatum, on an open vote on the question of issuing
      animmediateinvitation to several representatives of
      the Government.

If thereadingof this proposal and voting on it
    at the plenary session are refused, the whole Bolshevik group
    shouldwalk outby way of protest.

Written on 12 November, 1917First Published in 1933 inLenin Miscellany XXIPublished according to the manuscript

Speech OnThe Agrarian Question November 14 (27)

Newspaper Report

On the instructions of the Bolshevik group, Comrade Lenin
      delivered a speech setting forth the views of the Bolshevik
      Party on the agrarian question.

He said that the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries had suffered
      defeat over the agrarian question, since it had advocated the
      confiscation of the landed estates, but refused to carry it into
      effect.

Landed proprietorship forms the basis of feudal oppression, and
      the confiscation of the landed estates is the first step of the
      revolution in Russia. But the land question cannot be settled
      independently of the other problems of the revolution. A correct
      view of these problems can be derived from an analysis of the
      stages through which the revolution has passed. The first stage
      was the overthrow of the autocracy and the establishment of the
      power of the bourgeoisie and the landowners. The interests of
      the landowners were closely interwoven with those of the
      bourgeoisie and the banks. The second stage was the
      consolidation of the Soviets and a policy of compromise with the
      bourgeoisie. The mistake of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries
      was that at that time they failed to oppose the policy of
      compromise on the plea that the masses were not sufficiently
      enlightened. A party is the vanguard of a class, and its duty is
      to lead the masses and not merely to reflect the average
      political level of the masses. But in order to lead those who
      vacillate the Left Socialist-Revolutionary comrades must
      themselves stop vacillating.

Comrades Left Socialist-Revolutionaries! In July there began a
      period in which the masses of the people started breaking away
      from the policy of compromise, but to this very day the Left
      Socialist-Revolutionaries are stretching out a hand to the
      Avksentyevs, while offering the workers only their little
      finger. If compromise continues, the revolution is doomed. Only
      if the peasantry supports the workers can the problems of the
      revolution be solved. Compromise is an attempt on the part of
      the masses of workers, peasants and soldiers to get their needs
      satisfied by means of reforms, by concessions on the part of
      capital, without a socialist revolution. But it is impossible to
      give the people peace and land without overthrowing the
      bourgeoisie, without socialism. It is the duty of the revolution
      to put an end to compromise, and to put an end to compromise
      means taking the path of socialist revolution.

Comrade Lenin went on to defend the instructions to thevolostcommittees[2]and spoke of the necessity of breaking
      with the leading organs, such as the army committees, the
      Executive Committee of the Peasants' Deputies, etc. We adopted
      our law on thevolostcommittees, he said, from the
      peasants. The peasants want land and the prohibition of hired
      labour; they want implements for the cultivation of the
      soil. And this cannot be obtained without defeating capital. You
      want land, we said to them, but the land is mortgaged and
      belongs to Russian and world capital. You are throwing down a
      challenge to capital, you are following a different path from
      ours; but we are at one with you in that we are marching, and
      must march, towards the social revolution. As for the
      Constituent Assembly, the speaker said that its work will depend
      on the mood in the country, but he added, trust in the mood, but
      don't forget your rifles.

Comrade Lenin went on to deal with the question of the war. When
      he referred to the removal of Dukhonin and the appointment of
      Krylenko as Commander-in-Chief, there was laughter among the
      audience. It may be funny to you, he retorted, but the soldiers
      will condemn you for this laughter. If there are people here who
      think it funny that we removed a counter-revolutionary general
      and appointed Krylenko, who is against the general and has gone
      to conduct negotiations,[3]we have nothing to say to them. We have
      nothing in common with those who do not recognise the need to
      fight the counter-revolutionary generals. Rather than have
      anything to do with such people we prefer to retire from power,
      go underground if necessary.

First Published in 1933 inPravdaNo. 19028 November 1917Published according to the Pravda text

Draft Resolution

The Peasants' Congress fully and in every way supports the law
      (decree) on land of October 26, 1917, approved by the Second
      All-Russia Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers'
      Deputies and published by the Council of People's Commissars as
      the provisional workers' and peasants' government of the Russian
      Republic. The Peasants' Congress declares its firm and
      unshakable resolve to ensure the implementation of this law,
      calls upon all peasants to support it unanimously and to carry
      it out themselves in the localities without delay, and also to
      elect to all and every responsible post and office only people
      who have proved not in word but in deed their complete devotion
      to the interests of the working and exploited peasants, their
      readiness and ability to uphold these interests against any
      resistance the landowners, capitalists, and their supporters or
      accomplices may offer.

The Peasants' Congress also expresses its conviction that the
      full implementation of all the measures constituting the law on
      land is possible only if the workers' socialist revolution which
      began on October 25 is successful, for only the socialist
      revolution can ensure the transfer of the land to the working
      peasantry without compensation, the confiscation of the
      landowners' implements, full protection of the interests of
      agricultural wage-workers and the immediate commencement of the
      unconditional abolition of the entire system of capitalist
      wage-slavery, the proper and planned distribution of the
      products of both agriculture and industry among the various
      regions and the population of the country, control over the
      banks (without such control the people will not be masters of
      the land even though private property in land is abolished),
      all-round state assistance specifically to the working and
      exploited people, etc.

Therefore the Peasants' Congress, fully supporting the
      Revolution of October 25, and supporting it precisely as a
      socialist revolution, declares its unswerving resolve to carry
      out, with due gradualness but without the slightest vacillation,
      measures aimed at the socialist transformation of the Russian
      Republic.

A necessary condition for the victory of the socialist
      revolution, which alone can secure the lasting triumph and full
      implementation of the law on land, is the close alliance of the
      working and exploited peasantry with the working class—the
      proletariat—in all the advanced countries. In the Russian
      Republic the entire organisation and administration of the state
      from top to bottom must henceforth be based on such an
      alliance. Rejecting all and every attempt, direct and indirect,
      overt and covert, to return to a course that experience has
      rejected, to the course of conciliation with the bourgeoisie and
      the champions of bourgeois policy, this alliance alone can
      ensure the victory of socialism the world over.

Written 14 November 1917First Published inIzvestiain  No. 226,28 November 1917Published according to theIzvestiatext

Speech In ConnectionWith The Statement
      Of A Vikzhel Spokesman

November 18 (December 1)

Newspaper Report

Comrades, the Vikzhel statement is undoubtedly nothing but a
      misunderstanding. Can you imagine, for one moment, that troops,
      fully aware of their revolutionary duty and fighting for the
      people's interests, would approach Field Headquarters and begin
      smashing up everything and everyone, without making known their
      demands, without so much as explaining to the soldiers around
      II.Q. why they had come. You must realise, comrades, that that
      is impossible. A revolutionary army, conscious of what it is
      about, must make its demands known to those to whom it
      applies. When the demands were being made, much more was done;
      care was taken to make it quite clear that resistance meant
      resisting the people's will, that this was not a common but a
      moral crime against the people's freedom, interests and highest
      aspirations. A revolutionary army never fires the first shot,
      and acts in anger only against invaders and tyrants. Had it been
      otherwise, the word revolution would have lost its meaning. I
      feel I must draw your attention to the fact that while making
      its unverified charges, Vikzhel announces its "neutrality". That
      is something Vikzhel has no right to do. At. a time of
      revolutionary struggle, when every minute counts, when dissent
      and neutrality allow the enemy to put in his word, when he will
      certainly be heard, and when no haste is made to help the people
      in their struggle for their sacred rights. I cannot call such a
      stand neutrality; it is not neutrality; a revolutionary would
      call it incitement. (Applause.) By taking Such a stand you
      incite the generals to action; when you fail to support us, you
      oppose the people.

To postpone the armistice is just what General Dukhonin
      wants. By assisting him you are sabotaging the armistice. Think
      of the grave responsibility that falls upon you, and consider
      what the people will say.

Comrade Lenin went on to say that the telegraph services were
      being sabotaged in some areas. The government was left without
      information, while its opponents circulated absurd rumours. Take
      the allegation that the Polish battalions were opposing the
      government, although the Poles had repeatedly declared that they
      had not interfered and did not intend to interfere in Russian
      affairs; they have also informed us that they want an
      armistice.

Published inIzvestiaNo. 23019 November 1917Published according to theIzvestiatext

Concluding Speech On The Agrarian Question

November 18 (December 1)

Newspaper Report

Comrade Lenin first showed that the accusation of anarchism made
      against the Bolsheviks by the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries had
      not been proved.

In what way did socialists differ from anarchists? The
      anarchists did not recognise state power whereas the socialists,
      the Bolsheviks among them, did recognise it in the period of
      transition between the state of affairs then obtaining and the
      socialism towards which they were progressing.

The Bolsheviks favoured a strong authority, but it must be a
      workers' and peasants' authority.

All state power is compulsion, but until then it had always been
      the power of the minority, the power of the landowner and
      capitalist employed against the worker and peasant.

He said that the Bolsheviks stood for the state power that would
      be a firm authority of the majority of the workers and peasants
      employed against the capitalists and landowners.

Comrade Lenin then went on to show that the Left
      Socialist-Revolutionaries' resolution on the land had called the
      new government a people's socialist government, and dwelt on the
      points that could closely unite the Bolsheviks and Left
      Socialist-Revolutionaries.

The alliance of the peasants and workers was a basis for an
      agreement between the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries and the
      Bolsheviks.

It was an honest coalition, an honest alliance, but it would be
      an honest coalition at the summit too, between the Left
      Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Bolsheviks, if the
      Left Socialist-Revolutionaries were more definite in stating
      their conviction that the revolution was a socialist
      revolution. It was a socialist revolution. The abolition of
      private property in land, the introduction of workers' control,
      the nationalisation of the banks—all these were measures
      that would lead to socialism. They were not socialism, but they
      were measures that would lead to socialism by gigantic
      strides. The Bolsheviks did not promise the workers and peasants
      milk and honey immediately, but they did say that a close
      alliance between the workers and the exploited peasantry, a
      firm, unwavering struggle for the power of the Soviets would
      lead to socialism, and any party that really wanted to be a
      people's party would have to state clearly and decisively that
      the revolution was a socialist revolution.

And only in the event of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries
      stating that clearly and unambiguously would the Bolsheviks'
      alliance with them grow and become stronger.

It had been said that the Bolsheviks were against the
      socialisation of the land and could not, therefore, come to an
      agreement with the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries.

The Bolsheviks answered that they were indeed against the
      Socialist-Revolutionaries' socialisation of the land but that
      did not prevent an honest alliance with them.

Today or tomorrow the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries would
      nominate their Minister of Agriculture, and the Bolsheviks would
      not vote against a law on the socialisation of the land if he
      proposed it; they would abstain from voting.

In conclusion Comrade Lenin stressed that only an alliance of
      workers and peasants could acquire land and make peace.

Among other things Comrade Lenin was asked what the Bolsheviks
      would do in the Constituent Assembly if the Left
      Socialist-Revolutionaries were there in a minority and proposed
      a bill on the socialisation of the land—would the
      Bolsheviks abstain from voting? Of course not. The Bolsheviks
      would vote for the bill hut would make the proviso that they
      were voting for it in order to support the peasants against
      their enemies.

Published  inPravdaNo. 1954 December 1917Published according to the Pravda text

[1]Written
      in connect ion with the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries'
      objections to the Bolshevik demand that Lenin should be invited
      to speak at the Congress in his capacity of Chairman of the
      Council of People's Commissars. They thought this would be
      prejudicial to the issue of power. On their motion, the Congress
      rejected the Bolshevik proposal, and Lenin addressed it as a
      member of the Bolshevik group.

[2]The reference is to the instruction to thevolostland committees approved by tire First
      All-Russia Congiess of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers'
      Deputies on June 23 (July 6), 1917, and published as a law "On
      thevolostCommittees" on November 3 (16), 1917.

[3]The reference is to the start of the peace talks with Germany.
      Following the publication of the Decree on Peace, adopted by the
      Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets, the Soviet Government
      took practical steps to conclude a general democratic peace
      among the belligerents. On November 7 (20), 1917, it issued
      special directions to General Dukhonin, the Commander-in-Chief,
      ordering him to make an offer to the enemy command to stop
      military operations and open peace talks. The directions said
      the government deemed it necessary to make a formal proposal for
      an armistice between the belligerents without delay(IzvestiaNo. 221, November 10, 1917). But the
      counter-revolutionary top brass, who had contacts with the
      military in missions of the Entente, blocked the armistice in
      every possible way. On November 8 (21), the People's
      Commissariat for Foreign Affairs sent a note to the Allied
      ambassadors proposing an immediate cease-fire on all fronts and
      negotiations on peace. The Entente ambassadors met at the
      U.S. Embassy in Petrograd on November 9 (22) arid decided to
      ignore the Soviet government's note.

The refusal of the Entente imperialists to support the Soviet
      Government's peace initiative and their active resistance to the
      conclusion of a peace, forced the Council of People's Commissars
      to start separate peace talks with Germany. On November 14 (27),
      word was received that the German High Command was prepared to
      start armistice talks. On the Soviet Government's proposal the
      talks postponed for five days to give the Allied Government
      another chance to make known their attitude on the peace
      proposal. On November 15 (28), the Soviet Government issued its
      appeal to the governments and peoples of all the belligerent
      countries urging them to join in the peace negotiations. There
      was no reply from the Allied powers.

On November 19 (December 2), a Soviet peace delegation led by
      A. A. Joffe arrived in the neutral zone and proceeded to
      Best-Litovsk, where it met a delegation of the Austin-Hungarian
      bloc which included representatives of Bulgaria amid Turkey. A
      10-day cease-fire was arranged as a result of the talks of
      November 20-22 (December 3-5). The Soviet Government took the
      opportunity to try to turn the separate talks with Germany into
      negotiations for a general democratic peace. On November 24
      (December 7) it sent another note to the Entente ambassadors
      inviting them to join in the talks. This note was also
      ignored. On December 2 (15), the talks were resumed and that
      same day a 28-day cease-fire was agreed upon. It provided for a
      peace conference, which opened at Brest-Litovsk on December 9
      (22).